Conical screw cap remover



P 4, 1955 B. N. DANIEL 2,761,337

CONICAL SCREW CAP REMOVER Filed April 29, 1954 FIG. 1

INVENTOR. H v H i a. N. D'ANIEL 25 25 BY ATTORNEY United States Patent CONICAL SGREW (ZAP'REMOVER Blake N. Daniel, Bronx,.N. Application Apr-H29; 1954, SeriaPNo; 426,423

S-CIaims. (Cl. 81--3.4)

This invention relates to articles employed in the home and elsewhere, and more particularly'to implements or tools used in everyday life'in and about the house and in other places where it is desired to remove a screw cap from a container.

Specifically, the invention. relates to openers for the screw caps of bottles, jars, or other containers, which caps are of varying sizes and it is necessary that they be tightly gripped and rotated in order to loosen and remove the same and is a continuation-in-part of my application Serial No. 284,338 filed April 25, 1952, now abandoned.

Various types of devices have been utilized in attempting to remove screw caps of varying sizes including those used for fruit jars and other containers ordinarily found around the home. Although numerous devices have been produced for loosening screw caps of various types, a single structure capable of removing caps varying'in size from those which are relatively large to those which are quite small has not been available;

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple, inexpensive device by means of which a screw cap may be easily removed from a container whether large or small and which device can be mounted on a suitable support or manipulated independently of such mounting, and operated to effectively perform the'function for which it was designed.

Further objects and advantages of. the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan' view of one application of the invention;

Fig. 2, a bottom plan view with. the surface coating removed;

Fig. 3, a perspective ofthe device-with a handle added and illustrating how the device may be mounted;

Fig. 4, a vertical section through the device of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5, a section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6, a vertical section of the remover per se of the preceding figures with perforations providing greater intimacy between the coating and base and with a pair of internal annular surfaces disposed at different angles, the smaller portions being suitable for removing small caps from bottles of fingernail polish or the like.

Briefly stated, the invention comprises a conical body having a relatively short axis so that screw caps of jars may be inserted into and against the inner surface of the same and removed by a rotating action. The smaller the cap the further it will extend into said body.

Referring to the drawing, a conical base or body 10 may be formed of relatively rigid metal, plastic, or other suitable substance and preferably with rough or irregular surface to facilitate intimate engagement with a surface coating of nubber-like or other material, capable of providing a gripping action when engaged by the hand as well as when a screw cap is engaged for loosening the same. The surface may be made rough or irregular in numerous ways, as for example by sanding, by spiral or 2,761,337 Patented Sept. 4, 1956 Z, arcuate grooves 11 which are best shown in Figs; 2 and 5.

To the base is intimately applied a surface coating having inner and outer portions 12' and 13- and in" or through the apexof the base may be a shank 14 of a handle having oppositely-'disposedarms 15 with openings 16 for the application of fasteners17' by means of whichthe device may be attached to the underside of a shelf'18 or other support as shown-inFig. 3. When thusmounted a cap 19 of a jar or other container 20-may be inserted and the' jar or container rotated for removing the cap;

If desired the device of Fig. 1, without the handle applied thereto, may be fitted in the palmof the hand and applied over the screw cap of a container and rotated for loosening or removing the cap. Also, if we ferred the device may be used unmounted and the'handle employed to increase the ease or leverage with which the device can be rotated.

The grooves 11- on the inner surface of the body-form ribs. 21. on the exterior of the body and assist in the uniting of thesurface material to the base. This intimacyof. engagement may be implemented by the provision of one or more openings 22' in the base or body 10 as shown. Also, the extra material in the grooves 11 and about the n'bs21 assist in both the gripping of the device and the cap to be unscrewed.

While the body 10' is described as a cone having a relatively short axis, it will be understood that the of. the body will correspond to the diameter and axial length. best. suited for caps or closures to be removed. To increase the usefulness of the device an internal" gripping surface may be provided with internal annular surfaces disposed at different angles, such surfaces constituting portions of cones having axes of different lengths and walls at different angles, for example, as disclosed in Fig. 6.

In the structure illustrated in Fig. 6 a relatively rigid cone structure23'is provided, the same asin the preceding figures, however, in order to provide amore intimate bonding of the inner and outer surface coatings the body 23 may'have numerous perforations 24; distributed over the same so: that the inner and outer coatings 25 and 26 of rubber, plastic or other substance capable of providing: a gripping surface may have integral connections 27' for enhancing the elfectivenessand insuring the inner and outer surface coatings from separation under normal conditions of use; The interior of theapex or smaller portion. of the body' 23 is designed to grip the screw cap of a bottle of fingernail polish or other container having a cap of relatively long pointed character while the larger portion is suited to engage larger less tapered caps.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof and therefore the invention is not limited by that which is shown in the drawing and described in the specification, but only as indicated in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A jar cap remover comprising a hollow relatively rigid conical body having a relatively short axis, the interior surface of said body being provided with a plurality of arcuate spiral grooves emanating outwardly from the apex of the cone, the exterior surface of said body being provided with a plurality of arcuate spiral ridges complementary to said grooves and located in alignment therewith, said body being provided with a plurality of spaced apertures providing communication between certain of said grooves and the ridges associated therewith, and a coating of rubberlike material intimately bonded to the interior and exterior surfaces of said body to provide a unitary structure, the material of said coat- 'ice ing projecting through the apertures in said body, the coating on the interior surface of said body providing a ridged surface for gripping engagement with a jar cap receivable said remover; p J I 2. In a jar cap remover as set forth in claim 1, a handle for said body fixedly secured to the apex of the cone and extending outwardly therefrom whereby the device may be selectively secured to a support or manually grasped so that the cap of a jar may be pressed against the interior surface of the cone and the jar rotated for removing the cap therefrom.

3. A jar cap remover comprising a hollow, relatively rigid generally conicalbody with a portion having a relatively short axis and a second portion having a relatively long axis and with the walls of said portions disposed at difierent angles, said body having an irrgeular surface with perforations distributed over the same including spiral grooves with its interior between its opposite sides defining an angle of substantially 90, a coating of rubber-like material intimately bonded to said body and providing a surface on the interior of said body for gripping engagement with a jar cap of a sizecorresponding to that of the interior of said hollow body, and a handle for said body by means of which the device may be manipulated and also by means of which the device may be attached to a support and held so that the cap of a jar may be pressed against the interior of said cone and the jar rotated for loosening said cap.

4. A jar cap remover comprising a hollow relatively rigid generally conical body including porttions with axes of different lengths, one relatively short and one relatively long and withthe walls of said portions dis- 2,7e1,sa7

providing an external surface capable of being readily "held against slippage in the hand and with bonding posed at different angles, a coating intimately bonded 1 to said body and providing a gripping surface on its interior of a character to grippingly engage a screw cap in either of the portions of said body corresponding to that of the size of the screw cap, said jar cap remover having a capacity for engagement with both flat and sharply tapered screw caps.

5. A jar cap remover comprising a hollow relatively rigid generally conical body including portions with axes of different lengths, one relatively short and one relatively long and with the walls of said portions disposed at different angles, a coating intimately bonded to said body and providing a gripping surface on its interior of a character to grippingly engage a screw cap in either of the portions of said body corresponding to that of the size of the screw cap, said jar cap remover having a capacity for engagement with both flat and sharply tapered screw caps, said body having perforations and said coatings covering the exterior and interior of said body and connections between the interior and exterior coatings located in the openings in said body.

6. A jar cap remover comprising a relatively rigid conical body having a relatively short axis and a hollow extension having a relatively long axis to accommodate screw caps of long and short axes, and a grip facilitating coating on the interior and exterior of said body; said extension having walls of a steeper taper than the walls of the conical body.

7. A jar cap remover comprising a hollow relatively rigid substantially conical body having a relatively short axis, a plurality of spiral grooves on the interior surface of the body, a plurality of spiral ridges on the exterior surface of the body, said body having a plurality of spaced apertures and a coating of rubber-like material covering the interior and exterior surfaces of said body and intimately bonded to said body providing a unitary structure, the material of saidcoating projecting through the apertures in said body, the coating on the interior surface of said body providing a surface for gripping engagement with a screw cap of a size corresponding to that of the interior of said hollow body and the coating on the exterior surface of said body providing a hand-gripping surface by means of which the device may be rotated to loosen said cap.

8. A jar cap remover comprising a hollow relatively rigid generally conical body including wall portions disposed at different angles and having axes of different lengths, one relatively short and one relatively long, a coating intimately bonded to said body on both its interior and its exterior and providing a gripping surface on its interior of a character to grippingly engage a screw cap in either of the portions of said body corresponding to that of the screw cap for applying pressure to rotate the same in either direction, and providing an exterior surface by which said jar cap remover being capable of engagement with both flat and sharply tapered screw caps.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,752,189 Lotz Mar. 25, 1930 1,960,531 Driscoll May 29, 1934 1,976,623 Monroe et al Oct. 9, 1934 2,063,805 Goetting Dec. 8, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS 633,574 Germany May 8, 1935 

